Therapist Unlimited Blog

According to a latest research, a number of cancer patients undergoing treatment have less idea; their medical operation could adversely affect their fertility.
Based on the report published on the New York Times it was discovered that many doctors fail to properly discuss with cancer patients the big possibilities that the chemotherapy they are undergoing could affect their fertility.
Due to this report, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, issued some guidelines on the matter recommending, “any oncologist seeing reproductive-aged patients for consideration of cancer therapy should be addressing potential treatment-related infertility with them or, in the case of children, with their parents.
The guidelines also state, "sperm and embryo cryopreservation are considered standard practice and are widely available."
It was also observed that despite these guidelines, doctors’ focus on beginning effective treatment as soon as possible can sometimes lead them to overlook potential effects on their patients’ fertility.
The report also state that out of desperation to find cure on their medical condition many cancer patients fail to consult their doctor the effects of the treatment on their sexuality.

Cancer patients need to be vigilant to always ask to their doctors the side effects of their operation since that treatment could affect their fertility.

The University of North Carolina’s Fertility Preservation Program also revealed that about 25% of U.S. oncologists discuss fertility issues with their patients before treatment begins.
This report should serve as eye opener to doctors to be vigilant on their duty by properly informing their patients on the negative possibilities of their medical procedure.
On the other hand, cancer patients need to be also responsible by asking their doctors on the side effects of their medical operation so that whatever happens they are aware of the possibilities and could find immediate and appropriate treatment on the matter.

Those people inflicted with allergies and asthma could soon find cure in folic acid.

People suffering from allergies and asthma could soon find cure in Folic acid.
This was revealed in a recent study made by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center who found out that Folic Acid or vitamin B9, may help treat allergic reactions, allergy symptoms, and even asthma.
Based on internet data, folate occurs naturally in food while folic acid is the synthetic form of this vitamin. Sources include cereals, baked goods, leafy vegetables, asparagus, fruits, legumes, yeast, mushrooms and organ meat (such as beef liver or kidneys).
According to the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers carefully examined medical data from 8,083 patients’ ages 2-85 who participated in the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
During the research, serum folate levels and total IgE levels were measured. IgE, or immunoglobulin E, is a class of antibodies that mediates allergic reactions, asthma and respiratory symptoms.
The study has shown that higher levels of folate were linked to lower IgE levels; fewer reported allergies, less wheezing and a lower likelihood of developing asthma.
Furthermore, the researchers found out that people with the lowest folate levels (less than eight nanograms per milliliter of blood) had a 40 percent increased risk of wheezing, 30 percent increased risk of having elevated IgE levels, 31 percent increased risk of allergic symptoms and a 16 percent higher risk of asthma compared to those with the highest levels of folate (above 18 nanograms per milliliter of blood).
Despite the encouraging result on the healing power of folic acid, researchers has yet to formally recommend it to patients since it still need further study before it can be officially be recommended to the public as cure to the said medical conditions.
 

Children and adolescents in the United States are in dire need of sufficient number of child and adolescent psychiatrists who will cater to their medical condition.
According to the latest data released by the U.S. Surgeon General, it was discovered that there are only an estimate 7418 practicing child and adolescent psychiatrists serving  73,675,6002 children and adolescents in the US.
The information released by the US Surgeon General also bared that 20 percent of children and adolescents have a mental disorder with at least a mild functional impairment in the US.
To address this problem a bill sponsored by Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) dubbed as The Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act had been introduced in the House of Representatives.
The pending bills seeks to support loan repayment, scholarships, clinical training grants, and education grants for children’s mental health professionals including: behavioural paediatricians, child and adolescent psychiatrists, child psychologists, school psychologists, school social workers, school counsellors, psychiatric nurses, and marriage and family therapists.

A crisis for child and adolescent psychiatrists now looms in the United States of America.

Child and adolescent psychiatry is the only medical specialty that comprehensively trains physicians to assess and treat children and adolescents’ mental illnesses.
Only averages of 300 child and adolescent psychiatrists complete training each year.
Overwhelming educational debt, pressure and incentives to pursue a primary care career, a long training period, and reimbursement problems discourage medical students from choosing child and adolescent psychiatry.
 

According to a latest research, those children who suffer from Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more likely to have current and lifetime sleep problems and disorders, regardless of the severity of current ADHD symptoms.
Based on the data gathered from the research, it was learned that adolescents with a childhood diagnosis of ADHD, regardless of persistent ADHD were more likely to have current sleep problems and sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep terrors, nightmares, bruxism and snoring.
The data gathered in the study showed that 17 percent of children with ADHD were currently suffering from primary insomnia, versus 7 percent of controls; lifetime primary insomnia occurred in 20 percent of children with ADHD, compared to 10 percent of controls.
It was also shown in the information gathered by the researchers that nightmare disorder affected 11 percent of children with ADHD and lifetime nightmare disorder affected 23 percent, versus 5 and 16 percent of controls.
The researchers also observed that the presence of at least one psychiatric comorbid condition increases the risks for insomnia and nightmares.
Dr. Susan Shur-Fen Gau, MD, PhD, associate professor at the College of Medicine and Public Health, National Taiwan University who conducted the study, explained symptoms and consequences of
ADHD and sleep problems in children often overlap.

Those people suffering from ADHD while still young need to be careful since they are at risk of suffering from a sleep disorder in adult life.

Gau revealed some primary sleep disorders are found to be associated with inattention, hyperactivity, behavioural problems and impaired academic performance, which are often mistaken for symptoms of ADHD.
She said the data were collected from 281 consecutive patients (86.2 percent male) between the ages of 10 to 17 years who had been diagnosed with ADHD according to DSM-IV criteria at a mean age of 6.7 years, and 185 controls that did not have ADHD as a child or teen.
She added diagnosis of ADHD was made based on information obtained from parent and child interviews, observation of the child’s behaviours, and rating scales reported by parents and teachers.
Moreover, Gau said the findings of the study indicated that the rates of nightmare and lifetime nightmare disorder were more prevalent in girls and snoring was more prevalent in boys.
The medical expert explained snoring might be more prevalent in boys due to an increased rate of sleep-disordered breathing in boys.
Gau said the research has shown that mothers were found to be more aware of symptoms related to ADHD in the presence of primary insomnia, sleep terror disorder or sleepwalking disorder, whereas teachers may be more sensitive to ADHD symptoms in the presence of primary hypersomnia and nightmare disorder.

Those children who are born more than three months premature have double the expected rate of autism at age two as full-term children, according to a recent research.
In a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, it was observed that 26 percent of babies born extremely premature had cognitive impairment.
The researchers based on the report also discovered that about one in 10 of the extremely premature infants who did not have other health problems (including cerebral palsy, mental impairment, or vision or hearing problems) tested positive for autism at age two.
The researchers got their data by a survey of the behaviour dubbed the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT).
Accordingly based on the study, not all children who test positive definitely have the brain development disorder.
Autism spectrum disorders (which include a range of diagnoses, from mild to more severe autism) are not typically diagnosed until age three or older, and M-CHAT is not considered a definitive test.
The researchers hope the result of this study should serve as motivation to the parents of extremely premature infants to take good care more of their children to keep them away from chances of suffering from autism.
Parents around the world need to realize that although there is no cure for autism the treatment need to given early before things could get worse.

Parents of extremely premature infants need to be more careful since their babies are at risk of suffering from autism.

According to a latest study those people who are regular users of shabu or Methamphetamine, a form of street drug are prone to memory loss.
Based on the study conducted by Julie Henry from the University of New South Wales, Australia, and Peter Rendell from Australian Catholic University on 20 adults, they discovered that majority of them are suffering from memory years for using shabu in an of average four years.
Rendell said previous research has found that that Methamphetamine may cause problems in social reasoning. As two of the most important aspects of social thinking are recognising emotion on people’s faces and understanding that, others think about things differently to you known as Theory of Mind.
He explained when compared with a group of people with no history of drug use, the group who had used shabu showed significant deficits on both the facial emotion recognition task and a Theory of Mind task, which involved naming the feelings expressed in photos of people’s eyes.
The researcher said the study has shown that constant shabu use has psychological consequences, and, potentially, consequences for these individuals’ social functioning.
He said the size of these social reasoning deficits was comparable to the memory problems that have also been found in users of shabu, consistent with other evidence showing that shabu is a dangerous drug, which can do lasting harm.
To avoid chances of suffering from memory loss, it would be best to avoid using shabu
To those who are already using it is time to stop this kind of act now.

The public should avoid using shabu since it could cause memory loss.

Pregnant women should make it a habit to take multivitamins during pregnancy to avoid low birth weights and other medical complication for their babies.

A group of medical experts revealed one of the key solutions to resolve low birth weights around the globe is the intake of prenatal multivitamin supplements among pregnant women.
Based on the research done by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) it was discovered that prenatal multimicronutrient supplementation is more effective than prenatal iron-folic acid supplementation in terms of resolving low birth weights among newborn babies.
Dr. Prakash Shah and his co-authors of the study at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto revealed low birth weight and related complications are considered the most common cause of global infant mortality under the age of 5 years.
Shah said with the possibility of reducing low birth weight rates by 17%, micronutrients supplementation to pregnant women, we believe, offers the highest possible return for the investment.
He said it is estimated that of the total 133 million births worldwide per year, 15.5% are low birth weight babies.
The medical expert and his team said approximately 1.5 million babies born with a low birth weight could be avoided each year globally, if all mothers receive prenatal multimicronutrient supplementation.
This study should serve as eye opener to mothers around the world regardless of status to always take multivitamins during pregnancy to avoid medical complications for them and their babies.
 

It was proven through a study that the nicotine in cigarettes can calm a person down.

According to a recent research, it was proven that cigarette had a chemical element that can calm any person puffing it.
Based on the study conducted by the University of California, they found out that nicotine might alter the activity of brain areas that are involved in the inhibition of negative emotions such as anger thus it calms a person down.
Jean Gehricke, the lead researcher of the study explained nicotine slows down the anger of any person as shown by their study.
Gehricke said participants who showed nicotine-induced changes in anger task performance also showed changes in brain metabolism.
He added nicotine-induced reductions in length of retaliation were associated with changes in brain metabolism in response to nicotine in brain areas responsible for orienting, planning and processing of emotional stimuli.
Despite this finding, it is still advisable to avoid smoking since over-all smoking is bad for the health.
The cigarette might have calming effects but the truth of the matter it could cause cancer and other health problems to persons addicted to smoking.

According to a latest research mothers who gave birth late has a longer lifespan than those who women who gave birth early.
Based on the study women who give birth in their 40s or 50s have genes that allow them to live longer than other women who gave birth in their younger years.
Demographer Ken Smith, the lead author of the study, revealed the findings was based on the study they conducted on 11,604 Utah men who were born between 1800 and 1869 and who had at least one sister who lived at least to age 50; and the records of 6,206 Quebec men who lived between 1670 and 1750, and had at least one sister who lived to 50 or older.
Smith said their study yielded result that women who had "late fertility" - a birth at age 45 or older - were 14 percent to 17 percent less likely to die during any year after age 50 than women who did not deliver a child after age 40.
However, Smith clarified that those studies did not determine if the women gave birth later and lived longer because of genes or because of social and environmental factors such as good nutrition or healthy living.

Women who will gave birth late got to live longer than young mothers.
 

He said the study also showed that women who had "late fertility" - a birth at age 45 or older - were 14 percent to 17 percent less likely to die during any year after age 50 than women who did not deliver a child after age 40.
Furthermore, Smith said genes account for up to 25 percent of differences in longevity.
The lead researcher explained the link between late motherhood and longevity could be something that is not inherited. It could be good nutrition or good living, suggesting that if you are a healthier mother you live longer.
 

Breaking up with someone you, love is one of the hardest tasks you will face in life.

After engaging in a relationship then suddenly, you will tell your mate you are now breaking up with him or her, what a painful thing it would be.
However, if you are serious in breaking up with someone you really need to face this situation in whatever way you want it.
To all those on the verge of dumping someone they love here are tips to help you deal with the situation as softly as possible to reduce the pain involved.
 

One of the hardest things in life is breaking up with someone that you love.
 

A. Face to face honesty

One of the best ways to end up a romantic relationship is to a personally talk with your mate and discuss your intention.
This approached is good since it shows respect, honesty, and understanding and provides opportunity for the two of you to end up as friends.
Although this approached is laudable it had some risk involved like physical assaults and the big possibility that your mate will do everything possible to make you change your mind.

B. Telephone blues

Another way to broke up with your partner is the use of a telephone or cellular phone.
The good thing about this method is your protection from physical assault and the less guilty feeling you will experience since you will not see his or her face.
This technique is appropriate for those who have lesser heart and not comfortable in face-to-face confrontation.
One of the downside of this method is the most likely chance of engaging in a heated word war with your mate over the phone.

C. Snail mail
 

If you do not want to see your mate face to face and hear, his or her voice when you relay your sad decision to dump them one of the easiest way out is the use of snail mail.
Express everything you want to say to your partner in a letter and have it mailed in the nearest post office.
This method might sound fine at first glass but like the first two method it has also some risk involved.
One of the most visible risk on this method is the chance it can shown to other people and could even be used as evidence against you.
Unlike the other, two these methods needs some time before you can relay your sad message as the person involved needs to receive it first.

D. E-mail
 

If you wish a quick and heartless method to relay your sad message of separation, use the electronic mail technique.
Your partner will receive the message in an instant if he or she had a computer unit at hand by virtue of our modern technology today.
However if you use the method you risk getting into an email dialogue about the whole dumping thing.

E. Third party
 

You can also use your best message to deliver your doom message to your partner.
This technique is so effortless that all you need is to relax and wait for your messenger to deliver the sad news.
This method might be effortless but this is also very risky especially if you will be branded as coward the rest of your life.
Another risk is the chance that your messenger could take advantage of the sad situation of your former lover.

F. Treat her like a rug
 

Another interesting method to relay that you want to end a relationship is to totally ignore your mate.
If you use this method, make sure you have the courage to withstand the temptation and tendency to talk to your former partner.
However if you use this idea there is a big tendency you will be branded as coward and the sadness felt by your mate if being ignored could last for a long time.

G. Going out with someone else
 

If you have enough courage you can show that you do not like her anymore in the boldest way by showing in front of her or him that you are already loved someone else.
You are sending a clear and strong message to your mate that you do not like him or her anymore.
However if you do the technique there is a strong chances you will lose your credibility and the possibility that your former girlfriend or wife will take revenged on you.